


the shape of my soul (laughs in your face)

by Beastrage



Series: tell me verse [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU of an AU, Alternate Universe - Daemons, Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Dehumanization, Game: Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, Gen, Non Consensual Daemon Touching, OC as Riku Replica, POV Outsider, Self-Insert, Trans Character, accidental misgendering, culture clash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24460114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beastrage/pseuds/Beastrage
Summary: Everyone realizes that there's something wrong with the Riku Replica much earlier.The Daemon AU fragments of Tell Me That I'm Real
Series: tell me verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766746
Comments: 15
Kudos: 63





	the shape of my soul (laughs in your face)

It’s clear, almost from the start, that there’s something  _ off  _ about the replica. 

Perhaps, there is something wrong with the creation process, Vexen considers. “But still, the process would not explain... _ that. _ ”

Begonia, as always, is silent by his side. Voiceless, in every sense of the word. She does sneeze, however. Spreading ice all over the workstation. 

Vexen talks like the rat daemon had said something anyway. He’s never been one to let something as little as lack of a proper audience stop him. 

“An already settled daemon? That shouldn’t have occurred!” He shakes his head. “And of that size...”

Seemingly almost full grown, in length and shape of body. Too old to be a daemon of a being who woke up and started existing only a few hours ago. Of course, it was possible that the daemon was unsettled, but the lack of any transformation seemed to be pointed towards being settled. 

Be far too easy to blame it on “being a replica” but Number XIV,  _ Xion,  _ had come out with daemon unformed and unsettled like any newborn would. 

No, this is a problem exclusive to this Riku Replica. 

“What a mystery.”

Vexen can’t  _ wait  _ to solve it. 

* * *

The person with his face...his daemon looks  _ very  _ different from Riku’s own Sui. Dog-like, more like a wolf, not a cat at all. The only similarity between the two are the spots in their fur. Riku can’t help but feel relieved by that. 

By the flick of Sui’s tail, she seems relieved too. 

“We can take you!” Riku dares, in face of the challenge. 

“Of course we can!” Sui agrees. 

Then that opposing daemon opens its mouth and out comes a  _ laugh.  _ Loud and cackling all too human. 

Riku flinches at the sound. Sui hisses back, golden eyes wide and surprised. 

The replica laughs too. “Scared?” He taunts, eyes flashing as his mouth twists into a mocking sneer. 

Riku glares back. “Not of you!”

The daemon laughs again and snaps at Sui, long fangs narrowly missing her tail. The leopard daemon slices her claws through the air, driving her attacker back. 

“Get away from me!” She hisses.  _ Darkness  _ gathers around her paws. Riku’s mouth goes dry. No, not  _ now... _

The dogish daemon’s ears go up. “Oh, I can do that  _ too!”  _ Darkness builds in its fur running up its spine, and around its open, drooling mouth. 

Sui flinches and the Darkness disappears as quickly as it had come. “No, no, no! Not  _ again _ !” She wails, tail lashing about wildly. 

Riku can’t help but look at the replica. Who seems entirely unconcerned by the events taking place between the two daemons. By the revelation that he’s tainted by Darkness, down to the heart. 

(Just like Riku.)

Noticing Riku’s stare, the replica raises an eyebrow. 

“Well? You gonna fight or not?”

* * *

“Ruse. That’s my name. I’m Ruse!”

“And I’m Gambit!”

Namine can’t help but smile at the pair’s shared excitement, as they bound and jump around each other. Almost dancing. 

In her lap, Cowrie curls up in the form of a fox. Bones glowing through his flesh and fur like they always do. Forever silent. 

(“A Nobody’s daemon has no voice. Never speaks.”)

Gambit pokes his nose in that same direction, towards her lap. “What’s their name?”

Namine finds herself, for a moment, speechless. No one’s ever asked her that before. In her lap, Cowrie stirs and blinks at Gambit. Taking the shape of a snake as he does so. 

Gambit only peers closer, letting Cowrie’s glowing forked tongue lick his nose.

“Oh, he’s Cowrie.”

“Cowrie, huh?” Ruse lets the name rest on her tongue, breathing it out. “Like the shells?”

Both Namine and Cowrie tilt their heads, in the same direction. Namine speaks for them both when she says, “That’s a shell?”

Gambit giggles, showing canines in a parody of a grin. “Yeah, seashells!”

Ruse spreads her hands. “Let me tell you about them...”

* * *

The replica’s daemon keeps brushing up against his legs and Axel has no idea what to do about that. 

Other than let Ringa set it on fire, of course. Axel lets his fingers linger, briefly, in his pocket. Feeling the warmth of his always flaming newt daemon. Touching her and feeling her touch back. There’s no one here to see his weakness. No one that matters, at least. 

Axel breathes, letting breaths of steam out before sucking them back in. Slowly. Slowly. 

You don’t... _ touch  _ other people’s daemons. And you don’t let your daemon touch other people. 

Everyone knows that. 

Everyone except the Riku Replica. Apparently. 

Axel looks over at the replica, without turning his head. Through the corner of his eyes. 

The replica seems undisturbed by the actions of their daemon as they chat and continue chatting endlessly. There is no flinch, no shiver, nothing, as the daemon walks too close to Axel  _ once again.  _ Bumping and nudging with their snout. 

Seemingly as disconnected from their daemon as any Nobody. 

What the  _ hell _ was Vexen up to? Making something as unnatural as this?

He’ll just take the replica back to Vexen. Easy decision. 

Let the scientist poke at this. Axel has no desire to interact with this... _ mess  _ any longer. 

* * *

There’s something wrong about this. Something hurting in his brain as he follows Riku. Goofy, Donald, and their daemons are close behind. Moya bounces ahead, like how she bounces between shape to shape. 

There’s something wrong about that too, but Sora can’t think of what. 

“Riku and.. and...” By his side, Donald and Goofy look very concerned. Stephen settles his wings while a lump moves in Goofy’s daemon bag. 

Moya, newly a beagle, puts her paw over her nose. 

“I’m Gambit,” Riku’s daemon supplies, when Sora can’t find the words. 

Is that the right name?

Sora...can’t remember the name of his best friend’s daemon. He  _ can’t remember.  _

Next to him, Moya whines, her tail and ears drooping. Speaks for both of them when she whispers, “What’s  _ wrong  _ with us?”

From the bag at Goofy’s side, Maxwell pokes his head out. Stephen honks quietly. As sympathetic as their others.

“Don’t worry, Sora, we’ll figure this out,” Goofy assures him. 

“Of course we will!” Donald agrees loudly, stamping his webbed foot against the floor. By his side, Stephen does the same. Goose and duck, together. 

“Thanks, guys.” Sora smiles weakly. Moya chirps in thanks, flitting about as a wren. 

So it’s fine. It’s  _ fine.  _ It has to be. 

Until the ice guy shows up and Riku’s throwing his sword at him and Gambit’s growling. Everything is going and going. 

Then...Axel snaps his fingers. 

It  _ burns.  _ They  _ burn,  _ Riku and the ice guy. There’s Dust everywhere, scattered and glittering as it disappears all too fast. 

Riku’s  _ burning  _ and Sora’s screaming. Mya’s screaming too, in the form of a wild goose, snapping her wings uselessly at the flames. Everyone’s so  _ loud.  _

Except for Gambit, who moves as fast as lightning. Biting into Axel’s arm. Sora hears a loud  _ snap,  _ of a bone breaking, shattering. And then Axel’s screaming. Backing away, vanishing into Darkness. 

That motion down, Gambit collapses. Right next to Riku. Stinking of burnt meat. 

And they are so very still. But Gambit’s still there, not poofed into Dust. 

They’re still alive. 

Which has to mean something. 

(Doesn’t it?)

* * *

His name may be DiZ now, but Iris will always be Iris. Despite all of his failures. Even with her feathers as black as pitch, now. 

He frowns and taps his fingers against the table. The table that the replica, immensely damaged, lays on top of. Waiting for Riku and Mickey to return. 

Somehow, the replica’s daemon is still awake. Watching him. Still moving and  _ aware  _ though its human is the exact opposite of both. An impossibility, like everything else about the replica. 

Dark eyes narrow in DiZ’s direction. 

“I know who you are,” the hyena daemon says straight out. 

DiZ raises an unseen eyebrow. Iris rustles her feathers. “Do you?”

“Yeah.” The daemon shifts its weight from front paws to back. Back and forth. A flash of a doggy grin. “You’re the guy we’ve been taking food from.”

DiZ finds himself speechless. Iris, then, speaks for both of them when she says, “You are the thieves?”

Calm as always, preening her feathers. The perfect picture of an owl daemon like she’s always been. 

(Except in the Realm of Da- no, don’t think about that. Never think about that.)

“Of course we are.” 

Iris blinks one eye and then the other. “Interesting that you admit it.”

The hyena shrugs. “No use denying it.”

It settles on its haunches. “Name’s Gambit.”

“...Interesting choice,” DiZ says slowly. Also... “How  _ independent  _ of you.”

Ears flick up. “Hm?”

Iris fills in the rest, rustling her wings. “Normally, one introduces themselves  _ and  _ their other half.”

“Oh.” Gambit moves its gaze to the body on the table. A long tongue sneaks out, licking at its maw. “Cut us some slack, this set-up is new to both of us.”

Iris and DiZ exchange glances. New to both? 

Now, what in the worlds could  _ that  _ mean?

* * *

Wisteria shuffles her wings and balances on her single leg. 

Next to his crane daemon, Zexion narrows his eyes. Well, eye and eye spot. Watching, picking out the perfect target to hit. A weakness. 

Between the replica and its daemon...there are too many to count.

They’re apart, the pair, in the way that all Nobodies are with their own daemons. Neither one covers the other’s blindspots. Neither lingers by the other’s side. 

Separate and alone. 

Zexion sneers.  _ Easy  _ prey. 

This is how it’s supposed to go: daemon fights daemon, Nobody fights Replica. Eventual death at the hands of the victor. 

It doesn’t go how it’s supposed to go, like everything else about the replica. Instead the hyena daemon dives for Zexion’s face while the replica grasps at Wisteria’s wings. 

They freeze. Both of them. They can’t help the pure shock, even separated as they are. By this  _ unnatural  _ targeting. 

Enough time for Wisteria’s feathers to be pulled out and slightly frozen in the process, for claws to dig into Zexion’s shoulder. Before they respond, knocking their enemies back. 

“What is  _ wrong  _ with you?” Zexion hisses, practically tearing his lexicon apart as he flings it open. Letting its magic loose. Wisteria stabs her beak forward. 

The replica and its daemon...both laugh. 

“Ha!”

“We’re trying to survive here!”

“You thought we’d just  _ let you?” _

Two wide grins, the same and opposite. Speaking as one. 

“ _ Never. _ ”

* * *

“This is... _ weird. _ ”

A barking chortle. “You think it’s weird? What’s weirder than a daemon not being there for its other the entire time? For its entire existence?”

“...Yeah, that would be weird.” A pause, a hesitating breath. “Sorry about that.”

“Not your fault. We just...are. That’s all.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Just the two of us, as odd as that is for me.”

“Ruse and Gambit. Us against Kingdom Hearts.”

A smile. Mirrored on a less than human face. “Man, I’ll play against  _ those  _ odds.”

Bared fangs. “Victory’s  _ ours. _ ”

“No matter what.  _ Together. _ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Daemon extras:
> 
> Vexen w/ Begonia (female, Frozen Brown Rat)  
> Zexion w/ Wisteria (female, Whooping Crane with only one leg)  
> Axel w/ Syringa (female, Flaming Fire Belly Newt)  
> Namine w/ Cowrie (male, unsettled and see-through)
> 
> Riku w/ Sui (female, Leopard)  
> Sora w/ Moya (female, unsettled (?))  
> Goofy w/ Maxwell (male, box turtle) and Donald w/ Stephen (male, goose)  
> DiZ w/ Iris (female, Eastern Screech Owl)
> 
> And finally, Ruse with Gambit, a male Spotted Hyena. Entirely too social for his own good and much like Ruse, has no idea what social rules he's causally breaking all over the place. Oops?


End file.
